Monday, July 27, 2015

Gumusluk Festival piano competition

Ahmed Adnan Saygun Piano Award finds a new owner

The final concert of the Ahmed Adnan Saygun Piano Competition was held last night at the Gümüşlük Ancient Stone Quarry. Following performances by the three competition finalists, the jury announced its decision to award the Ahmed Adnan Saygun Piano Competition Prize to 23-year-old London Royal College of Music student Salih Can Gevrek.

The Ahmed Adnan Saygun Piano Competition is a biennial competition conducted within the framework of the 12th International Gümüşlük Classical Music Festival, which continues under the principal sponsorship of DenizBank. Jury for this year’s competition, organized for the third time, with support from A.Mutfak Mobilya, was comprised of world-renowned pianists Gülsin Onay, Martin Roscoe and Vyacheslav Gryaznov. The jury awarded 2nd prize to 21-year-old Ankara University State Conservatory student Atakan Oyal and 3rd prize to 24-year-old Uludağ University State Conservatory student Ecem Alnıaçık.

Competition 1st-place winner to perform at next year’s festival

The three finalists were selected following 3 rounds of performances. As the winner of the Ahmed Adnan Saygun Piano Competition, Salih Can Gevrek will receive a 3,000TL prize and the right to perform at the 13th International Gümüşlük Classical Music Festival next year. Salih Can Gevrek opened last night’s concert with S. Rachmaninov’s “6 Moments Musicaux”, followed by A.A. Saygun’s “Sonotin, Horon”. Next, Atakan Oyal performed F. Liszt’s “Paganini Etüdleri No.1&3”, followed by R. Schumann’s “Papillons” and A.A. Saygun’s “Etude Op38. No.5”. Ecem Alnıaçık was the last contestant to perform, beginning with F. Mendelssohn’s “Variations serieuses Op.54”, followed by N. Medtner’s “Fairy Tales Op.20 No.1-2 Op.25 No.3” and A.A. Saygun’s “Sonatin Op.15.” In addition to being awarded second place and a prize of 1,500 dollars, Atakan Oyal was recognized for “Best Saygun Interpretation”, and Ecem Alnıaçık, who will receive 1,000 as the competition’s third-place winner, was also chosen first in a People’s Choice vote by the competition audience.

Ticket revenues to be used for scholarships

Proceeds from the Ahmed Adnan Saygun Piano Competition will be used to provide a scholarship for one student to attend the Gümüşlük Festival Academy’s 2016 masterclass program. Each year, approximately 50 talented youth participate in masterclasses in a variety of disciplines given by the GFA. Moreover, to date, the initiatives of the GFA have provided 10 students the opportunity to study on scholarship in Turkey and abroad.